Helping Kids Respond To Teasing About Their Faith

“Max Shares the Gospel…or Tries To”

A Devotion to Help Kids Respond To Teasing About Their Faith

Max was thrilled to see that a new family was moving in across the street with a boy his age. Brent seemed a little stand offish after Max invited him to eat with his family, and finally he asked Brent what was wrong. “First, your dad’s a pastor,” Brent said with a smirk. “Second, that whole ‘grace’ thing is ridiculous. My family realizes there’s no god.”

Max could have been stung by Brent’s arrogance. But he had been trained well in scripture memorization, and told Brent quietly, “You know, Psalm 14:1 says, ‘A fool has said in his heart that there is no God.’” Brent scoffed and said, “You want me to take seriously a book I don’t believe is true?” “All scripture is inspired by God, according to 2 Timothy 3:16,” Max replied patiently.

“Hel-lo!” Brent said, laughing and knocking on Max’s head. “I don’t believe in the book! At all!” For the first time Max realized his training was kind of lacking. Still, it wasn’t such a terrible loss…

Max’s responses were lacking…how? (rate the answers; the best answer would be #1; the least likely answer #4)

_____ Max used a scripture that was high insulting, and he should not have called Brent a fool (at least not to his face).

_____ If Max had told Brent instead that people like him will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven according to John 14:6, Brent might have been a little more shaken by a reference to Hell.

_____ When people don’t believe in the Bible, quoting scripture to them is pointless; in fact it discredits you as a believer.

_____ Brent is a symbol of changing times in our country, which is now strongly directed by atheism, and we need to be sensitive to their starting points.

Reflection

Brent represents a huge portion of Americans today who either don’t believe in God or don’t believe the Bible is His world. Quoting scripture at them is not the loss that it seems, however. Many people who convert to Christianity remember scriptures they were quoted, sometimes years earlier, and those scriptures were like seeds sewn. One Christian witnessed, and while he wasn’t around when the atheist converted, he produced some of the supernatural energy referenced in Isaiah 55:11: The word
went out and did not return to God void. Max may hope to be a sower in this case.

Sometimes the best witness we can give people—especially if they’re resistant to scripture—is just some heartfelt stories of how God worked in our lives. Called “testimony,” they emphasize that our faith is about a real guy—Jesus—and not just a set of rules. Christianity is different than any other faith for just that reason. It centers on a Person who wants to love you forever.

Keep a running list in your head of how God has worked for you. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you might get to use it.

Most Christian Response:

Max’s responses were lacking…how? (4th option is best):

Brent is a symbol of changing times in our country, which is now strongly directed by atheism, and we need to be sensitive to their starting points.